Did Liz Get Along With Barbara Eden?

[snelson]

how did liz get along with barbara eden?.

[the truth]

LOL!

[Retro4Life]

Originally Posted by the truth

LOL!

I'm not sure why this elicits laughter (let alone "out loud laughter" hehe), but the first thing that I thought of was they may well have not ever met. Just because they were on two very popular network TV shows at (roughly) the same time, with a similar theme, doesn't mean they knew each other.

My guess is that HAD they met they would have been fine with each other as both of them seem graceful, intelligent and secure.

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

I'm not sure why this elicits laughter (let alone "out loud laughter" hehe),

Sorry, you must not have read the other thread. Nevermind.

[catlover79]

I personally have no idea.

[Larry Tate]

Originally Posted by snelson

how did liz get along with barbara eden?.

Sally Field on Rosie once recounted an incident between Liz & Babs in the area where they all got their hair done side by side with other actresses.

Babs was a morning person who loved to sing & had a fine voice, Liz was Not a Morning person & wanted peace & quiet.

After several times with Liz asking her to not sing so early at it must have been around 6 in the morning, Babs did so again.

Liz finally had enough & yelled at her to Shut Up!! which Babs did.

She had just had enough is all, while Liz did have a grudge against Sydney Sheldon the head guy over at I Dream of Jeannie for plagiarizing her show, she never held Babs or the rest of the IDOJ cast responsible for the creative theft.

Larry Tate

[snelson]

now that's funny lol. liz was right to do that. i remember when i was in college i was talking to myself and my classmate had enough and told me to shut up,

[ansara1]

Barbara and Liz WERE friends. Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie were both Screen Gems productions. Bewitched aired on ABC and I Dream of Jeannie aired on NBC but since they were both produced by Screen Gems Productions both were filmed on the same lot where you see exterior shots of the houses. Funny enough Jeannie and Samanth's houses are right down the street from each other on the lot (now the Warner Bros. Ranch) - this can easily be seen on the Jeannie opening sequence (episodes 2 - 8 from the first season) in which scenes from the pilot are shown instead of the animated opening with the bottle. If you notice near the end of the opening (RIGHT BEFORE the last scene when it shows Jeannis' house) there is a shot of the street Jeannie lives on and at the end of the street Samantha and Darrin's house is clearly visable). Both shows used the exteriors and sets from the interiors from time to time (they were filmed across the hall from one another). Anyway, a close friend of mine who introduced me to Barbara Eden backstage many years ago in NY asked Barbara about Liz while speaking with her on the phone (again I have known my friend for YEARS and have actually been in with him during one conversation he had with hervia the telephone ). She told him that while on the Screen Gems lot in-between filming they would sit and talk about their children. She even said that in 1965 when she was pregnant with her son, Michael Matthew, Elizabeth gave her some of her maternity clothes from her first pregnancy (from the previous year). In addition to that, when asked about I Dream of Jeannie, Elizabeth spoke about how if there was any "irritation" about I Dream of Jeannie it was ALL directed at the show's creator, Sidney Sheldon. Upon she and William Asher meeting Sidney Sheldon and speaking about I Dream of Jeannie in 1964 she stated - and I quote - (I have listened to the audio tape) "I was annoyed with Sidney - that's NOT TO SAY I was annoyed with Barbara, or Larry Hagman, or any of those people, but it was that initial meeting with Sidney." Even the fact that she mentions Barbara only by her first name (and if you heard it - the WAY she said it) but then goes on to say "Larry Hagman" as if they were more aquaintences and didn't know each other that well.

Now - NOT to open a can of worms - but from all I have read and researched, etc. I Dream of Jeannie was NOT - I repeat - NOT a rip-off of Bewitched. I DO think that it is to the success of the first season of Bewitched that we owe a lot of credit that I Dream of Jeannie aired the following season. From all I have read, researched, etc. Sidney Sheldon saw the feature film, The Brass Bottle (also out in 1964 - one year before I Dream of Jeannie premiered) in which Berle Ives starred as a genie Tony Randell found and Barbara Eden starred as Tony Randell's fience. After seeing this Sidney wanted to do a series about a beautiful FEMALE genie. THAT is where he got his inspiration. This makes sense as far a time line is concerned because the pilot of I Dream of Jeannie was FILMED in Dec. of 1964. Bewitched premiered on ABC on Sept. 18, 1964. If it had been a copy of Bewitched I doubt Sheldon would have had much time to sit and view episodes of Bewitched that had aired through Oct. (only two months worth of episodes), write the pilot for I Dream of Jeannie, hire a director, a crew, cast the series, deal with technical aspects, props (the bottle), costumes, film it, etc., and still be working ON THE OTHER COAST in NY filming The Patty Duke Show - that he wrote virtually EVERY SCRIPT! What IS believable is that Screen Gems wanted to leverage their ABC hit on another network, ULTIMATELY asked Sidney Sheldon to write something for them for NBC (after asking Sol Saks, who wrote the Bewitched pilot, to write another story about a witch - and he declined). Sidney, who (as stated above) had thinking about doing something about a FEMALE genie, took them up on it and came up with I Dream of Jeannie. As Sol Saks stated in an interview, there had been films done about similar synopsis such as Bewitched (the movies I Married a Witch and Bell, Book, and Candle)...BUT Columbia Pictures / Screen Gems OWNED those so there were no legal issues. I DO think Elizabeth believed I Dream of Jeannie was a rip-off of Bewitched and was why she had a problem with Sidney Sheldon though it was a feature film (The Brass Bottle) that inspired Sheldon to write it (just as there had been similar feature film premises done like Bewitched - Bell, Book and Candle and I Married a Witch). I also know that Bill Asher and Sidney were friends and worked together on The Patty Duke Show before Bewitched or Jeannie. Sheldon originally wanted the show to feature twin SISTERS (LIKE Jeannie and her sister, Jeannie II) but suggested identical COUSINS (Samantha and Serena). The Patty Duke Show ultimately went with identical cousins. In any case, Sheldon was writing virtually ALL of those scripts before he started working on I Dream of Jeannie. Asher said in an E! True Hollywood Story interview that Sidney "stold" scripts from them (as he is speaking there is a split screen showing Jeannie and her sister and Samantha and Serena). Serena did appear on Bewitched first when Tabitha was born (during the 2nd season of Bewitched and Jeannie's 1st season) BUT she did not show back up on Bewitched until SEASON 4 - THE SAME SEASON JEANNIE'S EVIL SISTER FIRST APPEARED - SEASON 3). Actually the episode in which Jeannie's sister made her debute aired BEFORE Serena reappeared in season 4 of Bewitched. I say all of this to say I doubt Sidney Sheldon or any of the writers for I Dream of Jeannie went back and watched that one episode of Bewitched with Serena and decided to copy it (againTWO YEARS LATER). In addition I have personally counted "copied" episodes and BOTH - I REPEAT - BOTH shows "copied" each other. There are episodes (I counted that EACH did it 15 times) in which one show had an episode from a PREVIOUS SEASON and the other uses almost the exact same script (or the same one sort of turned inside out - or in 'reverse'). ONE example for Jeannie is when she blinks up a beautiful home on a vacant lot across the street for Roger to meet her in. Of course Dr. Bellows sees the house and wants Tony to explain. The following season on Bewitched Endora zaps up a beautiful home (THE EXACT SAME EXTERIOR HOME USED ON I DREAM OF JEANNIE!) on a vacant lot across the street from Samantha and Darrin. Of course Mrs. Kravitz sees it and calls the police. Then there is the episode where aunt clara zaps up a newspaper she THINKS is tomorrow's paper (it really is from 10 years in the past) in which it states Larry Tate breaks his leg. The following season Jeannie gets the dates mixed up (thanks to Roger's messed up watch) and blinks up tomorrow's paper...the headlines read that an astronaut (NASA does not disclose whch one) breaks his leg in an accident. I don't believe EITHER of these shows intentionally copied or "stold scripts" from each other but probably had some of the same writers working on the lot that UNINTENTIONALLY replicated ideas already used. I say ALL OF THAT to say that I Dream of Jeannie was NOT a rip-off of Bewitched and NEITHER intentionally copied the other. Seeing as how Sidney Sheldon and William Asher were friends and previously worked together on The Patty Duke Show (ABOUT IDENTICAL COUSINS) I am disappointed that Asher went on The E! True Hollywood Story accusing Sidney Sheldon of "stealing scripts" from Bewitched (referring to Bewitched - again the identical cousins had been done before and Sidney had wanted to have identical twin SISTERS) when in reality both shows had episodes that were unintentionally "copied." I am glad Sidney took the high road and said nothing negative about Bewitched or anyone associated with it but simply said they didn't see (and / or take) any scripts of their's and to his knowledge the same was true of them. Now - I believe Elizabeth was taking what William Asher said as the truth (in the interview she also comments about Jeannie's sister as a copy of Serena) and THAT is part of why she was annoyed with Sidney Sheldon. The other reason being she didn't know about The Brass Bottle being Sheldon's inspiration. So, I can understand why she felt the way she did having been given the information she was about Sidney from his - friend - and her husband. It has always puzzled me that if Asher felt this way about Jeannie and everyone involved he would participate in the movie I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later. I know it was for money and I know he and Elizabeth were long divorced at that point but to have felt so strongly about Sheldon and the series it just seems odd he participated in it. I'm sure he's a very nice man and I do not mean to insult him but I have to admit this does disappoint me about him though I do NOT fault Elizabeth in the least. Forgive this LONG synopsis but I have spoken and written about this before and one question or comment leads to another so I simply wanted to try and cover (if not all) mostly everything on this topic. Therefore, to the best of my knowledge Barbara Eden and Elizabeth Montgomery WERE friends. Having LOVED THEM BOTH AND BOTH SHOWS I HOPE YOU ARE AS HAPPY TO LEARN THIS (if you didn't already know) AS I WAS WHEN I FOUND THIS NEWS OUT!!!!

[ansara1]

Hi Larry T.,

I think we are friends and I mean this in the friendliest way possible - but I disagree with the total recollection given above. First of all it was in poor taste for Sally Field to tell that story 30 years later and a year AFTER Liz was dead - but I digress. My friend asked Barbara Eden about this and she laughed. She said she had to practice her songs for her night club act in Vegas whenever she had a spare minute. When she would do that she was in her "own little world" and said she very well could have done that without meaning to - but bothering them. She also told my friend that she and Liz were friends and that if anything were really bothering her that Liz would have told her. Therefore, I think you are right when you say it wasn't that big of a deal. But THAT is the reason she was singing - not simply to sing, sing, sing. Also, I disagree that Sidney "plagiarized" her show though as I state in my other (very lengthy) post I DO believe that because of what Bill Asher told her that SHE BELIEVED Sidney Sheldon did.

[MickeyMac]

All I know is that Liz basicly thought Jeanie was a rip off from her show. I remember seeing a documentary about Liz, and after Jeannie had Barbara Eden playing her sister, Liz got even more irritated because she thought it was a rip off of Serena.


In the 80's when Bill Asher worked on the Jeannie reunion movie, Liz I understand was not happy about it, even though they had been divorced.

[ansara1]

Originally Posted by MickeyMac

All I know is that Liz basicly thought Jeanie was a rip off from her show. I remember seeing a documentary about Liz, and after Jeannie had Barbara Eden playing her sister, Liz got even more irritated because she thought it was a rip off of Serena.


In the 80's when Bill Asher worked on the Jeannie reunion movie, Liz I understand was not happy about it, even though they had been divorced.

Yes, it is evident she really did THINK it was a rip off of her show.

I had always heard she wasn't happy with him either but in the audio interview when asked about it she says, "Oh, I didn't care about that.
They couldn't have gotten anyone better. Let's face it."

As for Jeannie II and Serena, she clearly is irritated when speaking about it on
the audio interview as well BUT she DOES RESTATE that her irritation lies with Sidney Sheldon - NOT Barbara Eden - or any of the cast members. She then goes on to say that (again - that as stated in my previous post) it was the initial meeting she and Bill had with Sidney on the creation of I Dream of Jeannie that she was really annoyed by.

[Larry Tate]

Originally Posted by ansara1

Hi Larry T.,

I think we are friends and I mean this in the friendliest way possible - but I disagree with the total recollection given above. First of all it was in poor taste for Sally Field to tell that story 30 years later and a year AFTER Liz was dead - but I digress. My friend asked Barbara Eden about this and she laughed. She said she had to practice her songs for her night club act in Vegas whenever she had a spare minute. When she would do that she was in her "own little world" and said she very well could have done that without meaning to - but bothering them. She also told my friend that she and Liz were friends and that if anything were really bothering her that Liz would have told her. Therefore, I think you are right when you say it wasn't that big of a deal. But THAT is the reason she was singing - not simply to sing, sing, sing. Also, I disagree that Sidney "plagiarized" her show though as I state in my other (very lengthy) post I DO believe that because of what Bill Asher told her that SHE BELIEVED Sidney Sheldon did.

Ok first off these things are never personal, i always focus in on the facts & their relative merits of the subject at hand unless attacked.

Everyone has a right to their opinion & to express it here in their posts, at the same time a person has a right in their post to disagree & outline why they view something differently based on the merit of the facts as they see them.

Bottom line in my view IDOJ was a complete plageristic copy of Bewitched and a ripoff of it.

It was a good show, i enjoyed it then & now, the cast was excellent & Babs did a first rate job of it.

But it copied almost everything about Bewitched from the animated opening & similar theme song to the Jeannie II character that was a cheap ripoff of Serena.

They often took scenes & even whole episodes almost verbatam from Bewitched episodes, they were able to get away with copying whole scripts only because Screen Gems owned the rights to both shows & their scripts as well & could do with them whatever they wanted too do.

Liz was not furious about it because of what Bill Asher told her and believed to be the case, but rather by what she saw on TV was the case in the IDOJ blatant copies of her show, she was nervous about this happening when she heard Sydney Sheldon first talk about IDOJ with them & her fears bore fruit in the show that IDOJ became.

She never blamed the cast but felt that Sydney had stolen, copied, plagerized & ripped off her show, i agree with her views 100%.

When you take specific aspects of a character, scripts word for word almost & themes of a show & use them on your own then that is a show that was stolen, copied, plagerized & ripped off of Liz's show.

Now you can not disagree with what Sally Field said as she was there & you were not.

I never said she was just singing & it really matters not as to her motivation to sing at 6 AM, rather the point is that she did so, Liz got ticked off & after several times nicely asking her to stop finally told her off & told her to shut up.

That is what i said, that is what happened, you can't disagree with reality as it exists.

I am not saying that Liz's feelings towards Babs changed because of this issue but rather that this happened which it did.

Now Babs has a way these days of trying to spin things in a positive way, like her show was more magical, Jeannie more Powerful, they did not ripoff Bewitched, she & Liz were friends, personally i don't buy any of it & feel it is more along the lines of a glorified press release on her part when she says such things.

I don't think there was ever any ill will between them but i doubt if they had anything more then a nodding interaction with each other.

I think we can agree to disagree on these matters as the opposite view on this does not hold much water with me.

Larry Tate

[Larry Tate]

Originally Posted by ansara1

Yes, it is evident she really did THINK it was a rip off of her show.

I had always heard she wasn't happy with him either but in the audio interview when asked about it she says, "Oh, I didn't care about that.
They couldn't have gotten anyone better. Let's face it."

As for Jeannie II and Serena, she clearly is irritated when speaking about it on
the audio interview as well BUT she DOES RESTATE that her irritation lies with Sidney Sheldon - NOT Barbara Eden - or any of the cast members. She then goes on to say that (again - that as stated in my previous post) it was the initial meeting she and Bill had with Sidney on the creation of I Dream of Jeannie that she was really annoyed by.

What audio Interview & are you referring to one that Liz gave?........what show was this from?.

The point is not that she was blaming SS & not Babs, the point is that she felt it was a ripoff & plagerized version of her show which it was in my view.

That she did not blame Babs does not have anything to do with if IDOJ was a ripoff of Bewitched or if Liz thought it was, she did, it was & i agree with Liz.

Liz was furious at the time & still was 20 years later enough so that when Bill directed the Jeannie TV Movie she called him & give him heck, really chewed him out over it & asked him not to do it, that speaks for itself.

In fact when Bewitched was on the air she made sure that none of the writers working on Bewitched would be allowed to write for IDOJ, that is why James Henerson was fired, because he was on the sly writing for both shows.

She really got angry with SS as his show went on the air when she saw what they were doing, that is what infuriated her, more so then her initial misgivings when SS told her about his plans which already were concerning her.

Larry Tate

[Larry Tate]

It matters not where SS got his inspiration for IDOJ, what matters is that once he did
do the show he focused on Bewitched only & copied it to an extreme, that is what this thread is about & nothing else.

IDOJ did not air for a year after Bewitched, most of the copying of Bewitched by IDOJ did not
really start till the following season after IDOJ's first season, i guess SS was having a hard time coming up with new material so he looked at Bewitched & just did a Ditto on it basically, as well he gained access to Bewitched unfilmed scripts & used them as a basis for his IDOJ scripts, that is how in a few instances an IDOJ episode was filmed & seen before a Bewitched one with the same basic script was, after SS had copied their script Bewitched still went ahead with their version of it usually a year or more later.

So the suggestion that Bewitched ever copied IDOJ is absurd & Rubbish, the copying was 100% one sided, that of IDOJ doing the copying & the point is re Serena how Jeanie II was used & presented as a character in that it was a virtual copy of Serena, that is the point, no matter how long ago SS had used identical cousins when he used them on IDOJ they were Serenafied so that the copying was very obvious for all to see.

That Bewitched copied IDOJ 15 times is laughable & can not be taken seriously.
SS did what he did & did it on purpose with full knowledge of his actions, there was nothing unintentional about it, he knew what he was doing, he needed scripts, could not write them & simply stole them on purpose from Bewitched, that is the reality of it.

In 1965 I can see Liz & Babs getting along, but as IDOJ started to rip off & copy Bewitched
to an extreme in it's second season I seriously doubt much interaction took place between the two ladies due to Liz's feelings about what was going on script wise, and you can't blame her as she was one right in seeing what she was seeing & as well in feeling as she did about it.

You see the whole thing is not that both shows were fantasy's, had Supernatural leads or had Cousins, but rather that SS made these generalities Bewitched specific when he wrote his IDOJ scripts, so much so that all it seemed he did was change the names around with the scripts, scenes, characters, how they acted, interacted etc. virtually identical to how it was so on Bewitched, that is the crux of the issue on this matter & what made it what it was, a Ripoff.

Larry Tate

[catlover79]

For whatever it's worth, Liz also wasn't happy when Bill directed the Green Acres reunion movie. She thought that the classic shows should stay in the past. I think most of the GA cast would concur with Liz, as I read in The Hooterville Handbook: A Viewer's Guide To Green Acres. Most of the cast (especially Eddie Albert) was unhappy with the script and mainly filmed it for the dough.